because there are a few Widzew fans on the forum i thought i might make a thread where i'll add anything new on transfers, sponsors and other matters involving the club in the pre-season period

ok lets start off with transfers

the players who have already left the club:

Vladimir Bednar - he's going to be out of action due to injury for an extended period of time which is probably why his contract wasn't extended... too bad as he was definately one of the better right wingers in Poland last season... Legia and Groclin both wanted him in the winter break... aparently he had an attitude problem too

Frank Egharevba - was supposed to be a star striker but further confirmed the fact that black players and Widzew don't mix... goin back to Tomasovia as his loan finished and Widzew decided not to purchase him

Marcin Folc - another striker who couldn't find the net... although some may argue that Majewski didn't give him enough time but whenever he played he'd miss a couple of sitters

Pawel Kapsa - that incident with drink driving in the winter break really cancelled his chances of taking the number 1 spot in the team... the club simply isn't going to risk playing a keeper who might some time in the near future have serious legal issues to face... might be going to KSZO

Arkadiusz Kubik - didn't want to extend his contract because he was scared about his place in the team and decided to sign with Jagiellonia instead... probably because Boniek said that he wants to replace old players with younger ones and his age of 33 isn't really a bonus... however, he's a solid defender and Jaga will probably find him very useful

Radoslaw Michalski - even though he was one of our better players, at 36 he's getting too old to lead a team into the Ekstraklasa... Lechia Gdansk may be signing him

Adam Piekutowski - his loan has finished and Wisla demanded that he goes back... too bad as he was really starting to play his best ever and he'll probably rot on the bench again

Piotr Plewnia - in the first part of the season he was definately one of Widzews best players but since the winter break he didn't really get a chance to play for some reason... goes back to Polonia after his loan

Michal Probierz - this guy was rock solid but unfortunately decided to end his career... also he's about to undergo surgery which doesn't help when you're over 30

Michal Szeremet - junk, don't think any club wants him atm

Rafal Szwed - going back to Polonia after his loan... perhaps if not for Tomasz Michalski he would have stayed... Michalski has been playing really well at centre back and Szwed isn't really useful anywhere else... add to that the fact that Michalski is 24 and Szwed 32

Arka Gdynia is interested in Jaroslaw Lato who plays left wing and has really been the most outstanding player in Lodz last season... i doubt this will happen though as Lato still has a contract binding him for another 1.5 years and has stated that he wants to stay in lodz... even if Arka wanted to get him they would have to pay a lot of money for him which i doubt they will

as for players who may join the club:

Grzegorz Kmiecik from Wisla Krakow - he would probably be loaned out for a season to see how he goes... btw he's a striker

Krzysztof Kozik from Piast Gliwice - plays goalkeeper and would probably be a player for the future if anything i guess

Kamil Kuzera from Wisla Krakow - could be loaned out as he won't play in Wisla starting 11... unless ofcourse Engel has a different view on him... would be a good addition to the dquad as we lack defenders atm

Mariusz Liberda from Groclin - will join Widzew if his transfer abroad doesn't come through (Spain i think) Would be a great addition since both Piekutowski and Kapsa have felt

Radoslaw Matusiak from GKS Belchatow - we need strikers and he seems to be a prospective one

Sebastian Nowak from Ruch Chorzow - another goalkeeper who might join Widzew... most likely candidate number 1 if Liberda happens to go to Spain

Waldemar Piatek from Lech Poznan - and yet another goalkeeper... would be great to see him in Lodz but it's gonna be hard to bring him down

Michal Pietron from Lechia Gdansk - i don't know anything about this player apart from the fact that he plays midfield, perhaps the Lechia fans on here can enlighten me about him

Branko Rasic from Unia Janikowo - Boniek has hinted that Widzew is close to signing a foreign striker who isn't black... he's the only one from the list of possible candidates that fits that description... seems to know how to score which is what we need

Michal Trzeciakiewicz from Kujawiak Wloclawek - a bloke from Olsztyn, who knows might be a decent signing... another midfielder which is great

Piotr Wlodarczyk from Legia Warszawa - since Chalbinski decided to go to Zaglebie (bad move imo) Widzew have turned their interest on Wlodarczyk who may be leaving Warsaw and having already played in Lodz 2 seasons ago might be what we're looking for... he revitalised himself in Lodz last time he was here and now might possibly do it again... i'm not sure if he'll want to play 2 liga football but he hasn't been good enough to warrant a place on any Ekstraklasa side as of late... we shall see what happens

from someone who was present at the press conference that followed the first training for the pre-season i found out the following...
there is a whole bunch of goalkeepers (ie. Liberda, Nalepa or some other Serbian guy), midfielders and strikers lined-up to come down to Widzew in a matter od days/weeks... Boniek seems extremely confident that he can put together a team that will finish top of II Liga this season...
now for the extremely bad news... Boniek and Szymanksi are dissapointed with the contribution the City has made in order to aid the club... he said that he was promised that if he can get Widzew out of debt then the City will do everything in its power to help the club gain serious sponsorships that will guarantee an annual budget of 5 million zloty... they City council also promised to help maintain the stadium, which is actually the property of the City... to this day nothing has been done and none of these promises haev been kept, even though Widzew is, for the first time in may years, in the green... no debts, no problems and not a huge potential... and yet for some reason the sponsors don't seem interested... it's really mind boggling how little firms in towns of 100k can find serious sponsors that keep them afloat and one of the biggest clubs in the country, in a city of almost 1 million cannot find a sponsor, or a group of sponsors, that will guarantee a budget of 250k per month (that is how much it costs to run the club)
so far all the money has been put forth by Szymanski and Boniek. They have, so far, both invested 1.8million zloty each out of their own pockets. Szymanski is now having financial problems at his firm and cannot afford to contribute that much into the club and Boniek is not about to become the sole sponsor which means that...
the team will be put together and will play for the first two months and probably earn a top 3 spot in the league, and if by that point no serious sponsors that can aid the club will be found then both Szymanski and Boniek will cease to fund the team and laon out any player wishing to earn above 1k a month, mind you they will have already spent a further 500k by then... this sounds pretty serious and it seems like the 15 of august will determine wether Widzew returns to being a supreme power in Polish football or shares the fate of clubs like Ruch or GKS... one thing is for sure... Boniek is not about to spend the money he doesn't have in keeping the club alive and then obstructing any future success by amassing a huge debt, something Grajewski and Pawelec were not able to understand when taking incredibly huge credits at the bank...

recently two friendly games have been played by Widzew... the first one was on wednesday in Koluszki where they took on the local 5 division side KKS Koluszki and today (friday) they had a game against 3 division side Tur Turek on neutral turf... both games finished with 6:0 wins for Widzew...

two Serbian players were tested in todays win over Tur Turek... a goalkeeper by the name Grehovac, who was last season the number 1 at a team which finished 3rd in Serbia and was chosen as one of their top 4 players, and a striker called Davor Maras who was apparently tested by Widzew a while back but failed his trails... today he managed 2 goals and looks like he might have progressed since his last trials... Pawel Kowalczyk netted yet another goal and Grzelak finally got his first since joining the club... looks like a lack of goalscoring forwards might not be a problem for Widzew this season anymore

Hey man, cheers on the updates on Widzew...Just wondered if you heard of the wispers going around that a few Polish teams and some German team was on the look out for Rybski? Just heard that from a mate in Zgierz!

michalkrupnik wrote:Hey man, cheers on the updates on Widzew...Just wondered if you heard of the wispers going around that a few Polish teams and some German team was on the look out for Rybski? Just heard that from a mate in Zgierz!

it's possible although i doubt it because he has been performing way below par the past spring... but having said that he is still a very talented striker probably comparable to a player like Zjawinski at Legia... there may be a few clubs looking at him, i dunno i havent heard anything about any serious interest in him from another club... what i have heard however is that, if players like Maras and Kowalczyk who are currently on trials with the club and apparently doing really well, get signed, then either Rybski or Swierblewski, or perhaps both, will be going out on loan for the season...

btw it's likely that Widzew will loan out Zjawinski from Legia... Boniek wants to bring him down and Zjawinski himself has apparently expressed interest in coming to Lodz... i hear that last year when he signed for Legia he also had a serious offer from Widzew and in the end chose Warszawa... if that is indeed the case then im interested to see how the fans in Lodz will welcome him

Pawel Kowalczyk who is 25 years old and plays striker... his former club was Pogon Lezajsk and he has signed a 3 year contract with Widzew

now it's apparently between Zjawinski and Maras for the last striking position at the club... personally i would go with Maras as we'd sign him for an extended period not just loan him out for a season, and he has already shown in the last 2 friendlies he played in that he can put the ball in the net with 3 goals in 2 games... same as Kowalczyk actually